Punta del Mucosa
Punto del Mucosa is Sierra Gordo's neighboring country in Latin America. It allied with G.I. Joe to host a military base, which Cobra managed to destroy due to the Presidential bodyguards being traitors. History In 1989, A train chugs along inside Punta Del Mucosa near the Sierra Gordo border. The train and its cargo of a Thunderclap do not go unnoticed as it passes over a "fisherman" on a railway bridge. Riding on the train we find Cross Country, Long Range, and Rumbler playing a card game of old maid with El Presidente. They are traveling to a spot where they can demonstrate the Thunderclap for El Presidente. Cross Country spies a Cobra Condor which he identifies with a guide to Cobra equipment, flying overhead. The Condor reports his sighting to Voltar, who using a similar guide to Joe equipment assess the fact that the Thunderclap doesn't have the range to be any obstacle to his plans. He is more concerned with the NABM (North American Banana Monopoly). Voltar orders his new allies of Cobra troops on a first wave of attacks on Rio Lindo, to usurp power from El Jefe and Delbert Swinson. In the town of Rio Lindo, FANG II helicopters are attacking the city. El Jefe and Delbert learn of the approaching Thunderclap from Horatio the fisherman on the bridge. The pair is holding Lt. Falcon, Shockwave, Recondo, Daina, and Lt. Dragonsky in a cell surrounded by crocodiles underneath their base of operations. Lt Falcon (hearing about the thunderclap) tells the two to give it up now and release them. Undaunted, Swinson refuses and also plans to go ahead with the Miss Sierra Gordo pageant and parade. Rolling down the street in a parade float is the Joe rescue team, Stalker, Muskrat, Repeater, Scoop and Backblast. They lie in wait as Voltar's troops attack and infiltrate the city. Back at the train, Rumbler pulls the emergency cord and the train comes to a stop. They take the Thunderclap off the train for a little test drive. They travel over what El Presidente notes are the remains of a recently-cleared rain forest. Cobra's forces have pretty much taken over the town now; they are just passing the pageant parade. The large float speeds up headed straight to the building where the two leaders are . The float facade tears apart revealing the vehicle underneath to the Cobra troops in the street. A Warthog crashes into the building and Delbert and El Jefe flee. As the Joes rescue everyone Muskrat begins to introduce himself to Daina when she tells him his real name. She knows all the Joes and all about them she has read all their dossiers. The Joes and Guard members head for the border of Punta Del Mucosa; they are closely followed by Voltar's troops. Delbert and El Jefe fend off some crocodiles by the shoreline as Swinson orders a counterattack. The Warthog leaves the road, where the Condor overhead cannot see them. The DEMONs are not far behind however. Back at the Thunderclap, Rumbler, Cross Country, and Long Range are prepping the vehicle for a demonstration for El Presidente who questions the way the weapon is pointed. The Condor descends as it searches with infrared for the Joes and Oktober Guard members on the Warthog. He spots the group but it is too late Backblast has honed in on his heat signature and fires on the plane hitting it with his antiaircraft missile. Still not home free, the Warthog presses on as the DEMONs pursue. As they pass the 15 km marker to Punta Del Mucosa, the Thunderclap fires. Scoop takes video as the DEMONS follow them towards the border. A large crater is formed when the shell from the Thunderclap hits directly in front of the DEMONs. Not willing to mess with that kind of firepower the DEMONs retreat. The damaged Cobra Condor, still in the air jettisons its damaged section. He heads off to finish off the Warthog full of Joes. But is too late they have crossed over the border now. Back at the Thunderclap Long Range tries to convince El Presidente the DEMONs were attacking Punta Del Mucosa. The Warthog then pulls up as a skeptical general becomes even more suspicious of what is really happening. Stalker explains they were participating in the Miss Sierra Gordo pageant and parade when they discovered the plot to invade his country. He still doesn't believe them, so Scoop offers to show the tape of the pursuing DEMONs. Then Daina, wearing the Miss Sierra Gordo sash, jumps off the Warthog and kisses the leader on the cheek saying "how about a kiss from miss Sierra Gordo?"G.I. Joe #92 "Thunderclap" Meanwhile, The Joes launched a space mission to test the detection of their new "Stealth Base" in Punta Del Mucosa. Cobra launched an attack on the nearby USS Flagg and is tipped off to the location of the base. After another big aerial duel, the Crusader shuttle re-entered the atmosphere and put the final boot to the Cobra attack. Special Missions #28: "Condor" Notes: G.I. Joe #92 "Thunderclap" Items of note First appearance: Backblast, Long Range Wraps up a story begun in Special Missions #24 and #26. The whole bit with everyone reading dossiers and field guides really seems like a dig on Larry Hama's part at the huge amount of new characters and vehicles he was expected to introduce all the time. Real-world references Daina mentions the Moscow branch of Dossiers "Я" Us. For years in the '80s, a G.I. Joe-branded electric train was under development, but it never came to fruition. The train the Joes ride on in this issue isn't an intentional reference to that toy-that-never-was, but the parallel is there. Special Missions #28: "Condor" Final issue and probably the best they could do to send it off. It's the quintessential "big blow out issue", with non-stop action and a big ol' battle on an enormous scale. The final page is a full-panel "pin-up/goodbye" of the Joes, waving from the deck of the USS Flagg. Hawk breaks the "fourth wall" and talks to the readers; thanking them for 28 issues and to keep following the main title. Payload lands the Defiant on the deck of the Flagg as the story ends. Kinda' cool. Payload is clearly shown as African-American, now. That is, he has dark skin... not the light skin tone of his earlier appearances. Cobra is tipped off to the location of the Stealth Base thanks to a tracer planted by Punta Del Mucosa's El Presidente. The tracer and two of his cronies are tied to a mini-tank and sent off into the jungle...where they're bombed by a Cobra Condor. El Presidente's two cronies are named "Cisco" and "Pancho". An obvious joke and homage to the famous "Cisco Kid" series. I only mention this because the series seems to have faded from pop culture. Younger readers may not get the reference. References * Issue summary @ Option38.com Category:Locations